The present invention relates to a mail reception notifying system and a mail reception notifying method which are suitable for providing notification by means of a voice to a user of the receipt of various types of mails, such as electrical mails (E-mails), voice mails and facsimile mails.
In the BBS (Britain Board System) system, in which a user uses a personal computer with a modem, for example, the personal computer is connected as a terminal to a host computer through a telephone line, to form a network. Information is then exchanged via electronic mails between users over the network. In this electronic mail service, a file made off-line in advance is transmitted to the host computer along with the ID (identification code) of the user who is to receive the file. The host computer then stores the file after associating it with the ID of the intended recipient. In order to read out the file subsequently, the recipient must access his personal mailbox, and download the file stored in the host computer. However, in BBS, the host computer does not normally page the terminal (personal computer) of the user. Accordingly, the user must regularly access his personal mailbox to judge whether or not he has received any electronic mail.
However, requiring the user to regularly access his mailbox is troublesome. Accordingly, there is available a reception notifying service which uses a radio calling apparatus, such as a pager. In the reception notifying service, when the host computer receives an electronic mail for a specific user, a reception message is displayed on the character display device of the pager.
However, the areas in which a pager is operable are limited to large cities such as Tokyo or Osaka in Japan. Thus, this type of electronic mail reception notifying service is problematic in that it cannot be employed throughout the whole country. Further, a radio calling apparatus (i.e. a pager) can be used for reception only, and cannot transmit a response to reception. Accordingly, this is problematic in that the sender cannot confirm with certainty that the mail he sent has been received by the recipient. In addition, while a radio calling apparatus (pager) displays the reception message using characters, it would be more convenient if the reception notifying message could be conveyed to the recipient by means of a voice.
Accordingly, a voice storing service is provided in mobile communications. In the voice storing service, when the line is busy or the call is unanswered, a voice storage apparatus at a telephone answering center records and stores voice messages, which can subsequently be retrieved. In this service, when a mobile station is sending or receiving a telephone call, the telephone answering center checks whether or not a message is stored in the voice storage apparatus. If a new message is stored, a signal is provided once the telephone call is terminated which indicates the presence of a new message. However, in this procedure, message notification is carried out only upon completion of a communication, i.e., only upon termination of a telephone call. Therefore, if the mobile station is not used to send or receive a telephone call, the user is not notified of the presence of a new message.
The present invention was developed in consideration of the above circumstances, and has as its objective the provision of a mail reception notifying system and a mail reception notifying method wherein it is possible to expand the area in which a mail reception notifying service can be employed, and to improve the utilization of the mail reception notifying service, and further, to provide notification of mail reception with certainty.
In this invention, a mail reception notifying system comprises of a mail communication processing apparatus for managing reception of mail, and a reception notifying apparatus for controlling communication apparatus on the host side which is capable of communicating with a portable telephone on the user side through a mobile communication network, wherein,
said mail communication processing apparatus includes:
a storage means for storing a combination of a mail ID and a telephone number corresponding to said mail ID; a telephone number searching means for searching the telephone number corresponding to the reception by referring to the stored contents of said storage means when the reception of said mail is detected; and a notifying means for notifying said reception notifying apparatus of the telephone number which is searched by said telephone number searching means and the reception of said mail,
said reception notifying apparatus includes: a control means for controlling the communication apparatus of said host side to transmit the telephone number of said host side, and call the portable telephone of said user side based on the telephone number from said notifying means; a call detecting means for detecting that a call has come into existence between the portable telephone of the user side and the communication apparatus of said host side; and an output means for outputting a voice guidance which guides the reception of said mail to the portable telephone of said user side through the communication apparatus of said host side when said call detecting means detects that a call has come into existence.
Furthermore, in the above mail reception notifying system, said reception notifying apparatus includes of a storage means which stores said telephone number that is notified from said mail communication processing apparatus, and a deleting means which deletes said telephone number that is stored in said storage means after recognizing that the portable telephone of said user side displayed the telephone number of said host side.
Furthermore, in the above mail reception notifying system, said reception notifying apparatus includes of a reception refusal detecting means which detects that the portable telephone of said user side refused reception, and said control means controls to suspend the output of said voice guidance when said reception refusal detecting means detects that reception is refused.
Furthermore, in the above mail reception notifying system, said reception notifying apparatus includes of a busy line detecting means which detects that the portable telephone on said user side is busy.
Furthermore, in the above mail reception notifying system,
said mobile communication network includes of:
a first judgment means for judging whether the portable telephone of said user can communicate or not;
a second judgment means for judging whether the portable telephone of said user corresponds to a specific portable telephone by detecting a call from the communication apparatus of said host side; and
voice storage means for storing said voice guidance which is transmitted from the communication apparatus of said host side, in the case where said first judging means judges that the portable telephone of said user side cannot communicate, and the portable telephone of said user side corresponds to a specific portable telephone; and
said reception notifying apparatus consists of;
a judgment result detecting means for detecting that the portable telephone of said user side cannot communicate, and that a judgment was made that the portable telephone of said user side does not correspond to said specific portable telephone,
wherein said control means carries out recalling to the portable telephone of said user side based on the telephone number from said notifying means when said judgment result detecting means detects that the portable telephone of said user side cannot communicate and a judgment has been made that the portable telephone of said user side does not correspond to said specific portable telephone, and controls the communication apparatus of said host side to retransmit the telephone number of said host side.
In addition, this invention provides a mail reception notifying system which comprises a mail communication processing apparatus which manages reception of mail, and a reception notifying apparatus which controls the communication apparatus on a host side that can communicate with a portable telephone of the user side through a mobile communication network, wherein
said mail communication processing apparatus consists of:
a storage means for storing a combination of a mail ID and a telephone number corresponding to the mail ID;
a generating means for generating reception information which indicates the reception condition of mail corresponding to a telephone number when said telephone number is notified from said reception notifying apparatus; and
a notifying means for notifying said reception information to said reception notifying apparatus, and
said reception notifying apparatus consists of:
a notifying means for notifying said mail communication processing apparatus of the telephone number of the portable telephone of said user side when the portable telephone of said user side notifies said telephone number thereof;
a call detecting means for detecting that a call comes into existence between the portable telephone of the user side and the communication apparatus of said host side; and
an output means for outputting voice guidance which guides the reception of said mail based on said reception information to the portable telephone of said user side through the communication apparatus of said host side when said call detecting means detects that a call has come into existence.
Furthermore, in this invention, a mail reception notifying method which notifies a portable telephone on the user side of reception of a mail from a communication apparatus on the host side through a mobile communication network, wherein the procedure of said mail reception notifying method includes:
a first step for storing a combination of a mail ID and a telephone number corresponding to the mail ID;
a second step for searching a telephone number corresponding to a reception with reference to said stored contents in said first step when said reception of said mail is detected;
a third step for calling based on said telephone number to the portable telephone of said user side, and for controlling the communication apparatus of said host side to transmit a telephone number of said host side;
a forth step for detecting that a call comes into existence between the portable telephone of the user side and the communication apparatus of said host side; and
a fifth step for outputting a voice guidance which guides the reception of said mail from the communication apparatus of said host side to the portable telephone of said user side when the call comes into existence.